in my spiritual journey, i'm learning that love is all there is, that God is love, that we are loved. i have fear, but i'm growing.
it's hard to grow, but worth it. So I invite you into an exploration with me of the possibilities of what can happen when we say Yes to Love.
AND a note: i'm not on duty here, so my language and thoughts are not for the impressionable.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

do your work, you healer. yeah, i know it's hard.

leslie was watching "bobby" and i caught the last half hour or so (crawling out of bed after the sunday afternoon nap). i heard a quote at the end. turns out, it was from an amazing speech robert f kennedy gave the day after martin luther king's assassination.and i know, i know. it's a lot of work to think about making the world better. to find ways to heal ourselves and others. to stand up to what oppresses people. to be healed, and to heal. to accept love, and to give love. yeah, it is hard. but here's some of what rfk said. may it give you hope. it did me.

btw, this is what jesus said, too.

the mindless menace of violence in America … is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. …What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? …this much is clear: violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul. …When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies, to be met not with cooperation but with conquest; to be subjugated and mastered.We learn, at the last, to look at our brothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community; men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear, only a common desire to retreat from each other, only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. … The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of humane purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence. …Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanquish it with a program, nor with a resolution.But we can perhaps remember, if only for a time, that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek, as do we, nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and in happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something.

1 comment:

FYI: RFK had (has)a powerful influence over many people. One of his biggest supporters in his campaign might surprise you. Guy was a singer, actor, musician, songwriter, dancer ... he did it all. Guy died of a bad heart too early in life, yet left behind a legacy of immense talent, a haunted personal life and a lotta finger-snappin' music.